He had continued to say the director had urged him to “just do it for real man, don’t be a pussy” and the dog’s trainer had suggested he “massage the inside of [the animal’s] thighs”. The ‘Twilight’ star said a fake dog’s penis had ended up being used before the scene was cut.

In a statement, Pattinson has now denied any of this happened, as Vulture reports. “The story I told on Jimmy Kimmel last night seems to have spiralled out of control,” he said. “We are all huge animal lovers and would obviously never do anything to harm an animal.

“What didn’t come across is that this was supposed to be a joke,” he continued. “No one at all expected or assumed that anything like that would happen on the Good Time set. I feel embarrassed that in the moment, I was trying to make Jimmy laugh, only to create confusion and a false impression.”

Pattinson plays a New York criminal fighting to save his little brother in the movie, which received a lengthy standing ovation and great acclaim at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year. It is released in cinemas on August 17.